Lesbian Rights Activist Del Martin Dead

Martin, 87, Was Honored With Her Partner As The First Gay Couple To Legally Exchange Vows

(CBS/ AP)  Pioneering lesbian rights activist Del Martin, who married her lifelong partner in June on the first day that same-sex couples here gained that right, has died. She was 87.

Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said Martin died at a San Francisco hospital Wednesday morning, two weeks after a broken arm exacerbated her existing health problems.

Her wife, Phyllis Lyon, was by her side, Kendell said.

"I am so lucky to have known her, loved her and been her partner in all things. I am devastated, but I take some solace in knowing we were able to enjoy the ultimate rite of love and commitment before she passed," Lyon said.

Along with six other women, they founded a San Francisco social club for lesbians in 1955 called the Daughters of Bilitis. Under their leadership, the group evolved into the nation's first lesbian advocacy organization.

The couple were married at San Francisco City Hall on June 16. Mayor Gavin Newsom, who officiated the wedding, singled them out to be the first gay couple to legally exchange vows in the city, in recognition of their activism.

The two were among the two dozen couples who served as plaintiffs in the lawsuits that led the state Supreme Court to overturn California's ban on gay marriage in May.

The Daughters of Bilitis was named after book of lesbian erotic poetry first published in Paris in 1894.

Martin and Lyon also became active in the National Organization for Women in 1967, and Martin became the first openly gay woman elected to the group's board in 1971, reports CBS affiliate KPIX-TV in San Francisco.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Donna Hitchens, a founder of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said, "Del lived her life with great compassion, wit, tenacity, generosity and valor. She inspired thousands of us to be more courageous and energetic than we thought possible."

Martin was born in San Francisco in 1921 as Dorothy L. Taliaferro and attended George Washington High School, the University of California at Berkeley and San Francisco State College. She married James Martin at age 19 and had a daughter, Kendra, two years later.

The marriage ended in divorce after four years and she met Lyon in Seattle in 1950 when both were working for the same magazine. The two began sharing a household together in San Francisco on Valentine's Day in 1953.

In 1995, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, named Martin and Lyon as delegates for the White House Conference on Aging.

[jankebenz]

wow, that was a useless answer. even for you. Perhaps you could attempt to explain it logically, as I have no use for genesis, exodus, etc.

How does the concept of an intelligent being in and of itself indicate the christian god?

Posted by honestabe8 at 08:08 PM : Aug 30, 2008


Help! I''''m a *** addict and I''''m in withdrawal....

Posted by honestabe8 at 10:04 AM : Aug 30, 2008

With comments like that, I see that your not mature enough to comprehend any logic. I won''t waste anymore time!

[honestabe8]

janke: wow, that was a useless answer. even for you. Perhaps you could attempt to explain it logically, as I have no use for genesis, exodus, etc.

How does the concept of an intelligent being in and of itself indicate the christian god?

[jankebenz]

The schtick seems to go something like this..."Something created us, therefore Jesus died for your sins." It doesn''''t follow.
Posted by honestabe8 at 06:34 PM : Aug 30, 2008

Your getting there, God created the heavans, the earth ,and man. Man broke the perfect relationship he had with God because of sin, Just like if your wife was unfaithfull, the bond would be broken, and in order to mend that realatioinship, God sent his son Jesus to take the fall for mans sin.

[jankebenz]

jankebenz: how do you make the connection from a creator to a "God"...you know, the story of the talking snake and the rib woman...

Posted by honestabe8 at 06:25 PM : Aug 30, 2008

There one and the same, read genesis.

[honestabe8]

The schtick seems to go something like this..."Something created us, therefore Jesus died for your sins." It doesn''t follow.

[honestabe8]

jankebenz: how do you make the connection from a creator to a "God"...you know, the story of the talking snake and the rib woman...

[jankebenz]

Jankebenz: "The bible has proven itself as the only credible correct answer..." To whom? And, how do you make the connection between intelligent design and the christian view?

Posted by honestabe8 at 04:37 PM : Aug 30, 2008

To whom? To many historians,archaeologists,scientists,ect,not to mention the 2.5 billion believers.
The connection? To scientists, intelligent design is another word for explaining God in technical terms.

[honestabe8]

Jankebenz: "The bible has proven itself as the only credible correct answer..." To whom? And, how do you make the connection between intelligent design and the christian view?

[jankebenz]

And the psychotic feel that they hear voices and have invisible friends in high places. Belief is an individual thing, Jankebenz, and yours is no more valid than any one else''''s.

Posted by honestabe8 at 04:56 AM : Aug 30, 2008

There are many "beliefs" and ideas regarding how this all came to be, but the fact remains there''s only one correct answer. The bible has proven itself as the only credible correct answer.When one believes that life came from nothing, then that idea thus finds its origin based on nothing.Many scientists including the brilliant Einstein have concluded that the universe was created by intelligent design.

[honestabe8]

And the psychotic feel that they hear voices and have invisible friends in high places. Belief is an individual thing, Jankebenz, and yours is no more valid than any one else''s.

[jankebenz]

Its been said that explaining God to the ignorant is like giving directions to the blind. Its pointless, the blind lack vision, and the ignorant lack sense. no wonder Einstein said
"Great ideas often receive violent opposition from mediocre minds".

[mensarino]

LOL

[honestabe8]

mensario: i have had my run ins with jankebenz (and others like him (singinrick, truthword, noseonurface, etc). i agree with you. he is both self-righteous and stupid. but, it is sort of like jabbing at a geek biting off a chicken''s head.

[mensarino]

Honestabe8--I appreciate all you do to counter ignorance on this site but you are wasting your breath on jankebenze---no hope for him.He has the double whammy of being self righteously closed minded and at the same time superstitiously stupid.Oops that''s a bit redundant isn''t it?

[honestabe8]

Gosh, you are really misrepresenting what "evolutionists" think. Evolution attempts to answer questions of changes through time. It does not attempt to resolve questions of where we came from.

"Think about it, there''''s only the possibility of one god or another..." Not true. There is the possibility that we could all be wrong.
"

[jankebenz]

Also, ALL gods are man-made.

Posted by honestabe8 at 05:04 PM : Aug 29, 2008

Think about it, there''s only the possibility of one god or another, the god of nothing from which the evolutionists think we came from, or the one God who created the universe and you. The conclusion becomes very clear.

[honestabe8]

Also, ALL gods are man-made.

[honestabe8]

of course, YOURS is the correct one. you can no more convince someone that their god is the wrong one any more than they can do the same with you. do you expect that they will have an epiphany when they hear the name Jesus?

[jankebenz]

because we all see god differently, if we see god at all.

Posted by honestabe8 at 02:13 PM : Aug 29, 2008

Bingo,you''ve hit the nail on the head. There are countless man made gods, but only one God who made man. The sooner we realize that, and turn to the one and only God , the better off well be.

[honestabe8]

because we all see god differently, if we see god at all.